diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 4a7a71b..6d36aaf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           docker run -d -p 5433:5433 -p 5444:5444 \
             --name vertica_docker --network my-network \
-            opentext/vertica-ce:24.4.0-0
+            vertica/vertica-ce:latest
           echo "Vertica startup ..."
           until docker exec vertica_docker test -f /data/vertica/VMart/agent_start.out; do \
             echo "..."; \
diff --git a/connection.go b/connection.go
index ea1823f..4689e2c 100644
--- a/connection.go
+++ b/connection.go
@@ -315,7 +315,13 @@ func (v *connection) establishSocketConnection() (net.Conn, error) {
 		for _, j := range r.Perm(len(ips)) {
 			// j comes from random permutation of indexes - ips[j] will access a random resolved ip
 			addrString := net.JoinHostPort(ips[j].String(), port) // IPv6 returns "[host]:port"
-			conn, err := net.Dial("tcp", addrString)
+
+			if customDialer == nil {
+				customDialer = (&net.Dialer{}).DialContext
+			}
+			conn, err := customDialer(context.Background(), "tcp", addrString)
+			//conn, err := net.Dial("tcp", addrString)
+
 			if err != nil {
 				err_msg += fmt.Sprintf("\n  '%s': %s", v.connHostsList[i], err.Error())
 			} else {
@@ -782,3 +788,34 @@ func (v *connection) lockSessionMutex() {
 func (v *connection) unlockSessionMutex() {
 	v.sessMutex.Unlock()
 }
+
+// ** Custom Dialer **/
+type CustomDialer func(ctx context.Context, network, addr string) (net.Conn, error)
+type connector struct {
+	dsn       string
+	dialerCtx CustomDialer
+}
+
+var customDialer func(ctx context.Context, network, addr string) (net.Conn, error)
+
+func SetCustomDialer(dialer func(ctx context.Context, network, addr string) (net.Conn, error)) {
+	customDialer = dialer
+}
+
+func NewConnector(dsn string, dialer CustomDialer) (driver.Connector, error) {
+	return &connector{dsn: dsn, dialerCtx: dialer}, nil
+}
+func (c *connector) Connect(ctx context.Context) (driver.Conn, error) {
+	if c.dialerCtx != nil {
+		SetCustomDialer(c.dialerCtx)
+	}
+	drv := &Driver{}
+	conn, err := drv.Open(c.dsn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return conn, nil
+}
+func (c *connector) Driver() driver.Driver {
+	return &Driver{}
+}
diff --git a/driver_test.go b/driver_test.go
index 6cb544b..d1dc15b 100644
--- a/driver_test.go
+++ b/driver_test.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"net"
 	"os"
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
@@ -1279,6 +1280,41 @@ func getTlsConfig() (*tls.Config, error) {
 	return tlsConfig, nil
 }
 
+func openDialerConnection(t *testing.T, setupScript ...interface{}) *sql.DB {
+
+	customDialer := func(ctx context.Context, network, addr string) (net.Conn, error) { return net.Dial("tcp", addr) }
+	connector, _ := NewConnector(myDBConnectString, customDialer)
+	connDB := sql.OpenDB(connector)
+
+	err := connDB.PingContext(ctx)
+	assertNoErr(t, err)
+
+	if len(setupScript) > 0 {
+		assertExecSQL(t, connDB, setupScript...)
+	}
+
+	return connDB
+}
+
+func TestCustomDialer(t *testing.T) {
+	connDB := openDialerConnection(t)
+	defer closeConnection(t, connDB)
+	rows, err := connDB.QueryContext(ctx, "SELECT client_os_hostname FROM current_session")
+	assertNoErr(t, err)
+	defer rows.Close()
+
+	var client_os_hostname = ""
+	hostname, err := os.Hostname()
+	if err == nil {
+		client_os_hostname = hostname
+	}
+	var server_side_client_os_hostname string
+	for rows.Next() {
+		assertNoErr(t, rows.Scan(&server_side_client_os_hostname))
+		assertEqual(t, server_side_client_os_hostname, client_os_hostname)
+	}
+}
+
 func init() {
 	// One or both lines below are necessary depending on your go version
 	testing.Init()